Usually when we buy electronics, we like to check different stores for pricing purposes. Sometimes we check e-Bay and we may find out that they have similar or better prices. What happened when we decide to buy from e-Bay and later someone call us to ask to return the merchandise because it’s stolen merchandise? If we buy it directly from the store, we know we are doing a legal transaction, but what is e-Bay doing to ensure the same for its customers?

Yesterday, Assistant US Attorney, Kathryn Warma, informed the press about a man who was buying iPods and other electronic merchandise with stolen credit cards and then selling them on e-Bay. Read more…

Obama will be the first president to use YouTube to address the nation.  He will record weekly videos and then they will be posted in YouTube. These videos will be accessible through Change.gov

I think this shows how Obama will continue with the effort of connecting to the people and the foundation of democracy (real democracy now that we the people have a voice).

According to cnet news, Intel launched a pilot program for patients to remotely connect with their health care providers. This program consist of a laptop for the patients and an online interface for health care administrators. With this pilot program the patient can be monitored by a health provider without being in the hospital.  For example the laptop activates a reminder, then the patient responds and then he/she is asked a series of questions and prompts that may include taking their vital signs, blood pressure and/or glucose measuring.

This new technology can really help a lot of patients who hate hospitals, but if this technology fails the patient can be in risk.  With technology you never know, do you? However, if this pilot program becomes successful, then it can be implemented in most hospitals and perhaps will reduce some of the medical expenses, especially those not cover by the insurance, which may leave the patient with a huge medical bill.

I don’t know how to explain what I felt yesterday when I saw many students crying and shaking.  It was around 1:00 PM and I was taking pictures of two congresswomen from Chile that were meeting with professor Kathy Gill about social media tools for campaign purposes. At first I thought that it was a shooting and my legs felt weak!  Then I saw a UW police car and a fire truck.

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I just read this article in Wire News about “Twitter as a Terrorist’s Killer App” Apparently, a draft Army intelligence report, says that the Twitter’s miniature messaging could be used as a tool to coordinate “militant attacks”. The article provides three different scenarios in which Twitter could become a militant’s friends.

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Hamas has launched a website like YouTube with very uneven purposes like, glorifying the Holly Islamic War or to show episodes of soaps. This site is the first Palestinian site that specializes in audiovisual Islamic and Yihad productions. According to an internet organization “Alexa” the popularity of this site has exploded and only in the last month, it has had more than 20,000 visits.

According to Right Side News, “he new AqsaTube website is another example of how Hamas, like other terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda, have learned to exploit the information revolution to wage the battle for hearts and minds. It joins a long series of websites (in our assessment more than 20), in eight languages, managed and directed by Hamas” Visit Right Side News for more information.

As we can see new social media tools can be used with many purposes.  Whether some agree that this example is a good or bad way to use these new tools, it’s going to depend of the person who is giving his/her opinion. You can make your own judgement. AqsaTube

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This is a replica in three dimenssions of the Forbidden City in Beijing.  For more than three years, IBM designers built it pixel to pixel.  All the palaces and patios. You can addopt a charactor and explore all the corners of the Forbidden City. You can also talk to other virtual visitors and/or particiapte in the activities. Of course you need to download the software (it takes about 20 minutes), but try it, it’s fun! Of course this doesn’t replace a real visit to Beijing, but for those who can’t afford to go to there, it is an alternative. Click here to visit the Forbidden City